Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers

Today we’re asking Curtis Alexander — a digital marketing consultant and one of the speakers at the Distribution and Manufacturing Profitability Forum — some of the most burning questions we hear from you regarding online growth.

Depending on the industry and size of the company, a business can spend more than 40 percent of its annual freight budget on inbound shipping. A more efficient inbound freight program can minimize delays, save money, and even reduce confusion.

To better protect the rivers from runoff, the city began building a network of combined sewer overflow basins. The basins play a major role in protecting the surrounding watersheds, and the people and wildlife living there.

Liaoyang Petroleum’s Olefin Factory in the Hongwei District of mainland China, producing MEG and polypropylene, is saving $65,000 a year in maintenance following the installation of a computerized, electronic water conditioner.

There are diverse views on the impact that automating business processes can have on organizations. Though there may be some debate about the depth and breadth of process automation benefits, one fact is indisputable — Business Process Automation is on the rise.

5S can serve as the backbone of everything that companies do in their manufacturing facilities. It is how companies can continuously improve, produce quality products, deliver products to customers on-time and do it all in a safe manner.

Successful inventory management programs start with a thorough understanding of the inventory itself. Just as there are a lot of different types of inventory, there are a lot of different ways to manage it.

Plant and warehouse expansions are expensive, can lead to extended downtimes, and are dependent on available space and upfront capital. Making better use of existing space, however, is a more affordable and practical option with impressive results.

With the cost of downtime in some applications valued in the thousands of dollars per minute, it’s safe to say manufacturers who take a reliability-centered strategy are hedging their businesses against potentially catastrophic impacts.

People say the industry is known for low wages, subpar working conditions and continual quality control issues, none of which help attract new workers — but are those actually the biggest challenges facing manufacturing right now?

In recent years, Caterpillar had incredible performance and growth, the darling of financial analysts. But it wasn’t always so: In the 1980s, some observers wondered whether CAT could survive as it hemorrhaged financial losses.